consulting

Well, I was supposed to be at a meeting right now and working on a website spec for a local magazine. We had a meeting last Thursday that seemed to go quite well. They then asked me to send along some further questions for their tech guy, which I did on Friday. Not wanting to work without some form of contract (however informal) I also sent along an email to the publisher outlining my understanding of the work to be done, asking her to respond with any changes if necessary, and to return the email to me to signal her agreement.

Four days, two follow up emails and one voicemail later, I still have no response. I find this pretty unprofessional and just plain rude. You don’t keep people hanging on the line with no response. If you don’t know or need more time, you tell them just that. If you have changed your mind, you tell them that. The only legitimate excuses I can think of for this kind of behavior involve dead relatives, a serious car crash, or a fired coworker with a machine gun roaming the halls.

UPDATE: When I got home late last night, there was a slew of emails telling me that they had been expecting me in the meeting, asking me how we would meet, and finally approving the contract letter. All of the hand waving could have been avoided by simple communication.